Saturday, November 5, 2011

I love Bagels. Haven't eaten them much until about 8 years ago or so. And I tend now to be on a steady
breakfast regimen of a bagel, and a bit of cream cheese, and occasionally, jelly also.

I'm not an exotic bagel person. The Jalapeno/Asiago/Cheddar/Bacon Bagel is not my choice. Nor is even the Garlic Bagel.... Who want's garlic bagel breath first thing in the morning?

And frankly, I'm still pissed that Starbucks cancelled their Hawaiian Bagel.... I loved those things. About twice a week for the seven years I worked for Starbucks, it was walk in the lobby, order a Hawaiian Bagel, one cream cheese, not toasted..... and go to work and savor that bagel, with my hand made choice of morning beverage.

Anyway, working in a new location now, I went to Panera Bread the other morning and ordered a plain bagle. Absolutely delicious. One of the best bagels I've ever had.

That spurred me to make my own. Mine came out nothing like Panera's Bread but they are awfully darngood, and SO easy to make. I'm pretty sure I'll be making my own bagels from now on.

In a mixer bowl mix yeast and sugar. Stir in warm water. (You want very warm, but not hot)

Let mixture sit for 15 minutes. It should foam up nicely. If it does, it means the yeast is active and the
dough will rise just fine.

Add 3 cups flour, sprinkle salt over the top of the flour, and mix thoroughly. Add flour in 1/4 increments
until you have a barely stiff, dough ball.

Grease a bowl, and place the mixed dough ball in it, cover with plastic and place in a warm place to let rise
for one hour. (I preheat my oven at 200 degrees for 10 minutes)

Scrape the dough onto a floured board. Punch down, and let rest. It's important to let bagel dough rest
because you don't want a tough dough, ya know? Let rest for twenty minutes..... Roll up into a ball, knead 5 or 6 times, and with a floured rolling pin, roll it out into a small rectangle. Cut the dough into 8 roughly even squares. Doesn't matter how equal they are, one of the beautiful things about homemade breads, I think, is the individuality, of the finished project.

Now, take a square or rectangle, however you've cut it, and roll into a ball by tucking the corners underneath to the bottom of the dough and pressing in firmly. Do it a few times, and then when it's ball shaped, flatten with your hand on board, and from the bottom, press up your index finger through the
middle of the dough ball until there's a hole. then spread the dough apart to make the hole as large as
you want.

Let rise for 10 minutes.... meanwhile, heat a large saucepan with water and 2 tablespoons sugar....
When water is at a rolling boil, turn down slightly, and gently add two bagels at a time into the water.

Boil for 1 minute on one side and 1 minute on the other, and immediately remove from water and place on slightly oiled baking sheet.

At this point I brush the bagels with one egg white and one tablespoon water combined, and then you can add toppings, sesame, poppy, cheese or whatever, as I've already said, I'm kinda a plain bagel guy.

Let them all rest for another 20 minutes.... and then, pop them into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, if not golden brown, give them a few minutes more... watch them carefully is what I'm saying.... My first batch actually took 35 minutes, so there ya go.

Remove from oven, cool slightly, slice one open, smear with cream cheese and jelly, after toasting of course, if you want, and Enjoy!

Hi there! We met in a pub in West Seattle last week and you told us about your blog. I actually live in France, and my French roommates and I are hoping to tackle your bagel recipe this weekend, since bagels are rather difficult to get here. Thanks for providing us with some inspiration! -Jenny